Summer Haze
by Iscah McKrae
Summary: It was one of those languid days in summer...that hum in your veins. It was the day Shane concocted a very simple plan...a plan that changed the trajectory of several lives, though at the time, it seemed like a simple whim on a summer afternoon. - Jess/Shane with Lit undertones.


_**A/N: Back when I first started "Pay the Piper," I had it somewhere in my head to write a whole story about the pseudo-relationship between Jess and Shane. The more time went on, the less I had any desire to write it though. But, a short time back, this scene materialized in my mind and made its way onto the page. So…particularly since my beloved readers have been so often and for so long bereft of any contributions from me (not by choice, I assure you), I thought that I really ought to post it. **_

_**BTW, I'm constantly mentally working on "Pay the Piper" and "EverFixed Mark," believe it or not, and recently, I've been doodling at a couple of new stories which I'll probably share soon. Remember, reviews inspire me to write more. I have no idea if this will ever be more than a one-shot, or if anyone would want it to be, but reviews for one story may just as easily prompt the creative juices for one of the others. ;-) So, let me know what you think.**_

_**Thank you!**_

_Summer Haze_

Shane was sitting on the bench in front of the bus stop next to Jess, rooting through her tiny purse, AC/DC's _Back in Black_ whispering tin from her ear buds. She fished out a purple seashell shaped object and a clear cylinder with a black lid. Jess was fidgeting with the pages of his book and wasn't exactly reading the words, every few seconds shifting his shoulders and stretching his neck, knee bouncing out of rhythm to either AC/DC or the music wafting from the square. She paused, pulling the small headphones from her ears with a slightly annoyed expression.

"What? Do you need a cigarette or something?"

He shot her a sullen glare.

She laughed. "I'll take that as a 'no.'" She shook her head, and she looked down at the small cylinder in her hand, then suddenly up again. "Ohh…I get it," her eyes mocked him and her lips pursed in amusement. "_She's _coming home today."

His jaw tensed and Jess stared deliberately at the words on the page.

Shane glanced at the empty bus stop, eyebrows raising in amusement. "Bet she could be here any minute."

He pretended to ignore her, turning the page and letting his eyes scan across the lines, just a little too quickly.

She grinned in a tormenting fashion before turning back to apply a thick coat of her shiny, slick lip gloss, judging its effects in a compact mirror.

"Strawberry?" he asked, without looking up from his book, hoping to dissuade her from the previous subject.

"Bubble-gum," she mumbled, continuing to apply it…stopping and looking at his reflection in the compact. "You know…" she began, musingly, "nothing catches a girl's eye quicker than a little competition."

Jess raised his head and sat up straighter, his eyes remaining on the book for another second-and-a-half before glancing sidelong over at her, trying for an appraising glance, but something flickered behind it and his lips twitched just slightly.

"So…" she paused, rubbing her lips together, "I say, we flaunt it all over this town. I get my guy." She tossed the lip gloss into her clutch purse and flicked it shut. "You get your girl. Everybody's happy." She stood up, with a quick sigh, spreading her shoulders. "Besides…" she fluttered her eyelashes at him half-mockingly. "Meanwhile, it could be fun."

Jess' lips twisted to the side and his eyes met hers…cautious, but glinting and then dodged away. He blinked a little quicker as he contemplated. Just by standing up and walking beside her, he would be agreeing to her _had to be too simple _plot.

He tried to pretend that they had nothing in common. But, he knew it wasn't true. Just like him, there was more to her than met the eye. Not in the same way…but… He was the _rebel_ who wasn't rebelling against anything - who was just trying to figure out if life held anything but pain, and if there was something else, figure out what it was and how to get it. She was the _airhead_ _slut_ who…well… the second part might or might not be true depending on your definition, but she was no airhead. She wasn't Einstein material, by any means - and judging by books and tests, she might even be legitimately called stupid, but she was calculating and subtle, and she knew how people ticked. That was the commonality right there. You could call it manipulative if you wanted. But, calculating was more accurate. It's quite possible that neither of them knew exactly what they wanted out of life, in broader terms, but they were both quick at spotting opportunity…and knowing how to use it. He wished it didn't sound evil. Maybe it was. He knew at times he didn't like the part of himself that he saw in Shane. But, he'd always needed it. Maybe she had too. Or maybe she was born with it. Maybe you had to be. Maybe it was something that was either in you or it wasn't. Maybe it wasn't a thing that was good or evil all on its own, but something that could be twisted either way.

By gut instinct, Jess knew her plan had potential. It had the potential to make everything work out, or to blow it sky high. But, it was _a shot_... He tapped the four fingers of his right hand against his kneecap, lips still bitten to one side.

Jess stood. Hands in pockets, he walked beside her.

The sunshine was thick in the air…so thick it felt like he was breathing it. Somehow the heat and the brightness and the blended smell of grass and livestock and popcorn and the sound of that barbershop quartet playing the same song over and over and over again all melted together and hung in the air and filled up his brain in a way that certainly was hazy. Summer. He walked to the one spot in all this crazy hoopla where there seemed to be shade. The coolness of it was like a draught of pure water…but somehow would be that much better with a glass of iced lemonade.

Shane smiled broadly, the sunshine somehow getting mixed up in her eyes in a way that made him frown for a second. They looked neither mocking nor calculating, and maybe it was the summer haze, but for a second she looked almost as happy as if it was him she wanted, not some creep named Todd whose faithlessness spurred her to _let the punishment fit the crime_. That smile in her eyes made him wish that there was no Todd, and that some other guy was standing there smiling back at her with that same look in his eye. A guy who could show her that she didn't have to be a bimbo or a slut to get a guy's attention. A guy who could make her smile like that all the time… Her eyes laughed, and she put her hands on his shoulders and backed him up against the bark of the tree. …Oh well.

_**A/N: So…interesting? Dull as dishwater? Confusing? OOC? (insert these or other opinions below) **__**J**_


End file.
